1991_03 Hye Sharzhoom Newspaper March 1991

              March 1991
Hye Sharzhoom
Page 5
A Closer Look at Easter Within the Church
By Janice Caprelian
Staff Writer
When many people think of
Easter, they usually think of the
commercial aspects. For example,
these thoughts almost always come to
mind: an Easter bunny, a stuffed Easter
basket, and a new Easter outfit to wear
to church.
However, Easter's meaning is
both symbolic and significant. In the
Christian church, it is defined as the
Commemoration of the Resurrection of
Christ. In the Armenian church
proceeding Easter, there is a calendar
of events that is followed.
Lent (Medz Bak), which is a
period of 40 days of fasting, allows
one to examine and reassess one's own
life. The period of Lent also allows for
mediation and repentance, promotes
health, and is religiously educating.
Palm Sunday (Tzaghkazard),
which is the last Sunday of Lent, is
associated with a series of incidents
including the life of Christ, the
Resurrection of Lazarus, Christ's
triumphant entry into Jerusalem, and
his welcoming by the people.
In a ceremonial manner, Jesus
entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey
as people threw down olive and palm
branches and cried out "Hosanna to the
Son of David. Blessed is He that
cometh in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest"
In the Armenian church on Palm
Sunday, the churches are decorated
with palm and olive branches. The
olive branches are blessed by the
priest and distributed to the
congregation.
The week proceeding Easter is called
Holy Week (Avag Shapat). Each day is
known as a holy day, which
encompasses morning and evening
church services relating to the last
period of Christ's life. Monday is the
commemoration of the withered fig
tree. Tuesday is the commemoration of
the Ten Virgins. Wednesday is the
commemoration of the annointment of
Christ's head by the women. On
Thursday, holy mass is said in the
morning and in the evening. Good
Friday, the betrayal of Christ, is the
commemoration of Christ's death.
Saturday "Jragalooys" (lighting of the
chandeliers and candles in church) and
solemn rites are performed. Sunday is
the celebration and feast of Easter in
commemoration of the Resurrection of
Christ. Holy Mass, the taking of holy
communion, is performed.   The divine
Local News
liturgy begins at sunrise and special
hymns are sung to express the mystery
of the Resurrection.
The word "zatik" is both a Jewish
feast commemorating their liberation
from bondage in the land of Egypt and
is also a Christian feast
commemorating the Resurrection of
Christ
For Christians all around the
world, a red colored egg represents the
sacrifice of Christ's blood onto the
altar and is a tradition taken from
ancient religions.
Easter is never celebrated on an
exact date. In the Armenian tradition,
it is celebrated on the first Sunday of
the full moon immediately following
the vernal equinox, which may fall
between March 21 and April 26.
ANC "Man of the Year"
Kaprielian Presents Earthquake Video
By Cynthia D. Baxter
Staff Writer
Tribute was paid to those who
paved the way for opportunity and
success for Armenians in public office
by Justice Marvin R. Baxter, the
Armenian National Committee's Man
of the Year, who began his service on
the California State Supreme Court in
January.
Baxter was honored at the ANC
Annual Man of the Year Banquet at
Holy Trinity Armenian Church on
March 3, 1991. Baxter accepted the
award in tribute to Armenians in the
U.S. who battled against discrimination in the early 1900's and to
Governor Duekmejian, who proved
that well-qualified Armenian-Americans can succeed in public life.
"The historic elections of George
Deukmejian and. other Armenian-
Americans provided further evidence
that we were winning the battle
against discrimination and that we
were no longer automatically deprived
of an opportunity for success in public
office," said Baxter in his acceptence
address. He added that, today, Fresno
County is well represented by
Armenians in public service many
appointed by Deukmejian when he was
governor and others who were elected
by voters of the county.
In response to his award he said,
"it is clear to me that it is the result of
efforts made by many others-some
dating   back   to   the   turn   of   this
century."    Baxter    referred    to    the
Armenians   who   settled   in   Fresno
County in the early 1900's, including
his grandparents from Harpoot, who
experienced     a     great     deal     of
discrimnination    including    restrictive
covenents   that   excluded   Armenians
from    residing    in    certain    neighborhoods and immigrants who were
not permitted to join certain social and
fraternal organizations.
Serving on California's highest
court for over two months now, Baxter
said he values his relationship with all
the justice and finds it particularly
gratifying to join his friend Justice
Armand Arabian, who sits on the
opposite end of the Supreme Court
bench. "Some of our friends are
referring to us as the Armenian
bookends,"said Baxter. He also responded with humor to criticism that
two Armenian-Americans serving on
the same high court will think too
much alike.
"There is nothing to fear," he
said. "When you put a Bolsetzee and a
Kharpertzee in the same room I
guarantee there will be differences of
opinion."
Before being appointed to the
California State Supreme Court, Baxter
served on the 5th District Court of
Appeals and as Governor Deukmejian's
Appointment Secretary for 6 years.
Baxter said the six years serving
as Appointments Secretary was a once
in a lifetime experience. Deukmejian
made 1051 judicial appointments
during his 8-year term. "As best I can
tell, California's governor makes more
judicial appointments than any other
appointing authority in the world-
and that includes the President of the
United States," Baxter said.
Baxter also feels confident that
the Appointments, unit in Sacramento
was left in capable hands with Terry
Flanigan and Chuck Poochigian, who
introduced Baxter at the banquet "They
carried the torch forward on Governor
Deukmejian's behalf. They did such an
excellent  job   that   Governor   Wilson
reappointed them,"he said.
Baxter accepted the Man of the Year
award from Rose Safarian, ANC
chairperson and Richard Darmanian,
ANC executive director, said he
immediately thought of others who were
more deserving when he was informed of
the award. "Of course I didn't mention
the others to Rose and Richard for fear
they might reconsider," he said, but,'T
am proud to be the recipient of this
award, especially in view of the others
who were obviously considered."
By Armen A. Aghishian
Staff Writer
On March 4, 1991, Manoog
Kaprielian of Providence, Rhode
Island, a communications consultant
and writer, gave a video presentation
entitled "The Silent Pain." The event,
sponsored by the St Paul Armenian
Church, was held in St Paul's Haig
Berberian Hall at 7:30 p.m. The
emotional and touching video showed
how harshly the December 7, 1988,
earthquake in Armenia affected the
children, many of whom left as
orphans, unknowingly suffered from
post-traumatic stress.
Kaprielian began by speaking
about his involvement within the
Armenian communities throughout the
United States. He then followed by
speaking a little about the Armenian
Genocide and also the unsuccessful
attempts at getting the Genocide
recognized via Senate Joint
Resolution 212. Turkish pressure on
the U.S. Senate resulted in the defeat of
the bill - the defeat of a justified
remembrance.
He then spoke of the matter at
hand, the tragedy that had recently
plagued Armenia - the earthquake of
1988. The powerful earthquake's epicenter was located in Spitak. The
disaster     left     at     least     100,000
Armenians dead and many, many more
homeless and helpless. Kaprielian
, stated, "I felt extremely helpless at the
time of the earthquake. I assessed what
I could do... they requested thingsfrom
Armenia via teletype... child therapist
appeared on the list and then appeared
again."
The video focused on the effects
that the earthquake had on its most
unfortunate victims - the children. "If
we could find a way for the pain to
come out, the kids can feel their
emotions." And this he did, quite
effectively by videotaping the
testimony of the sensitive children -
many of whom cried while expressing
their admiration for the help that
Armenians in America had given. He
showed the tape to a group of teenage
Armenians at ACYOA Camp Vartan in
Connecticut Deeply touched by the
video, all of the children gave their
support and were willing to tape
messages for the children in Armenia.
In turn, when the Armenian children in
Leninakan saw this video, they
appeared to have more self confidence,
higher spirits.
Though Kaprielian was only able to
help about 200 of these witnesses of
destruction, his efforts continue, and
his ingenious accomplishments are by
all means an important victory in
overcoming the tragedy of posttraumatic stress.
r  Armenian sports trivia.,; page nine
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April 24th
Armenian Genocide
Commemorative Activities
Wednesday, April 24th
Divine Liturgy and
Civic Commemoration
Details to Follow
Sponsored by the San Joaquin Valley
Armenian Community Council